Creepy crawly June 29, 2009

Have you noticed many more bugs in your house the last few weeks? I know I have   The spiders have moved in recently, and I fear we have a moth problem brewing in the living room.  Given that I don’t like using pesticides in the house, or in the yard for that matter, I usually squash spiders by hand and use the “clap’n'kill” method for moths. Suddenly I’ve seen 4 moths in the last 3 days, and I’m starting to freak out.  I just put out birdseed moth traps–a savior for anyone who has cereal moths in their home.  I also need to investigate the source (move furniture, pull cushions out of couches, vacuum like a maniac….).  Grr, just what I was hoping to do during my relaxing evening…

Anyhow, let’s review the last few days.

Sunday

My bed said it was glad to have me there, and I slept in until about 9 :0 

While outside with Lily I spent time appreciating the wildflowers now in bloom, including this magnificent red poppy.

With all this fruit in the house I opted for an all-fruit start to my day.  First I cut up the canteloupe, then enjoyed a big plate of strawberries, cherries, blueberries, grapes, banana, and canteloupe.

Lunch was a nice change of pace: toasted peppercorn focaccia bread with goat cheese & balsamic (mixed and smeard on one side), avocado, mushroom, yellow bell pepp, and romaine.  Tasty!!

Not pictured is 1/2 a nanner I snacked on while neck deep in yard work.  Chris and I were out there for over 3 hours and I feel like we barely dented the weeds and other maintenance.  Arrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!  It never ends.  Yes, my choice not to use herbicides is making our endeavor harder this year, but I feel better knowing the nearby river doesn’t receive nasty runoff from our yard.  I mean, we go and swim in that water during the summer, our drinking water comes from it (upstream), and Lily drinks out of it when we’re there.  I hate thinking of all the shit that flows off of people’s yards and into storm drains….

Dinner was a visit to Fajitas.  I was uninspired and opted for the veggie quesadilla again, easy on the cheese, with olives and jalapenos.  I drank too much of my Cazuela and was rather buzzed! 

My night was spent doing housework–washing all the produce, vacuuming, mopping the floor…. before I knew it, it was bedtime and I never got hungry.

Monday

A fabulous start to my day involved this bowl of granola with cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and almond milk.  OHhhhhhhh yeahhhhhh. 

A hot morning passed by (more on that in a minute) and before I knew it we were eating lunch.  I opted for a salad (big surprise) with romaine, goat cheese, yellow bell pepp, grape tomatoes, avocado, carrot, apple, chow mein noodles, balsamic, and a Boca burger.  I had a few bites of pineapple and canteloupe on the side.

Mid afternoon I munched on cherries, strawberries, a carrot, and an apple. 

Chris and I have noticed our offices become really warm quickly if we shut the door (no good when you gotta shut the door for a client meeting for like an hour!), and we weren’t sure we had any air flowing in there, ever.  Turns out the damn vents to our offices were shut off at the main air supply duct, but now we have cool air blowing over us thanks to Chris calling in the maintenance dudes.  Finally, amen!  We are also rather private and prefer to have our office doors mostly closed during the day, but we were paying the price with the air stagnation.  No more, I say!

On the way out I chugged the rest of my almond milk from breakfast.  Man, I love that stuff.  The flavor, consistency, and aftertaste leave me smiling every time   I prefer Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla–the refrigerated version. 

Dinner was a multi course journey that started with a wedge of canteloupe to quell the hunger while prepping my b-nut chips. 

Then something newish:  BBQ’d red bell pepp and mushrooms with Bragg’s, balsamic, and Northwoods seasoning.  Not too shabby, but not hot enough.

Here’s my b-nut chips prior to applying their seasonings.  Turned into a pretty pattern I didn’t intend!

Dammit, I took them out too early and they weren’t crispy enough.  They tasted good, but I wanted that crispy texture, dammit!!

Then on to some BBQ steamed corn with Smart Balance Light.

Sadly everything was just kind of meh   I think my taste was sort of off or something…

After a 50 minute stair mill sesh at the gym I was feeling hangry (seems to be happening a lot lately).  I opted for a small Genisoy protein shake with almond milk and cocoa, and that perty bowl of mixed fruit.

And now I’m off to bed!  Giddyup!

Produce EXTRAvaganza June 27, 2009

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude, I bought like 28 pounds of produce today! (And I eat nearly all of that within a week, sans rinds/seeds/pits of course!)  I have never added up the weight of the fruit and veggie goodness that finds its way home with me from the store; it was quite astounding to do so.

Buying organic on my trips to Costco ain’t happenin’ much, esp. b/c the prices have been great on their awesome offerings.  Costco’s selection varies between organic and non, too.  I almost need to go to Freddy’s first to check pricing and availability, then Costco, and then Freddy’s again. 

I’ve been really interested in reading other bloggers’ food cost analyses, finding out how much their grocery bills are, etc.  For your enjoyment, here’s what I brought home today and the total cost (I hope this doesn’t bore the shit out of you):

Costco: $26.95

• 3 lbs cherries $5.99
• 4 lbs strawberries $4.99
• 2 lbs blueberries $5.99
• one whole pineapple $2.99
• 2 lbs grape tomatoes $6.99

Fred Meyer: $40.15 (including BYO bag refund and $0.50 coupon)

• two Silk Vanilla Creamers $3.98
• 2.4 lbs butternut squash $3.10
• 4.79 lbs canteloupe $1.77
• 2 ears yellow corn $1
• 1.04 lbs carrots $0.61
• .18 lbs soy protein powder $1.62
•  6 peppercorn ciabatta rolls $1.50
• 1.28 lbs organic broccoli $1.27
• 1 red bell pepper $1.50
• 1 head romaine lettuce $1.00
• 1.08 lbs flank steak $8.63
• .86 lbs bananas $$0.51
• .32 lbs cremini mushrooms $0.96
• .91 lbs organic Fuji apples $1.52
• Burt’s Bees Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub $7.99

Yowza, excluding the face scrub I spent $59.11, and we don’t have enough protein for Chris to last the week.  My add’l produce intake over the last month or so has increased our bill a bit, but what’s a fruit-addict like me gonna do when all this insane summer fruit is around? 

Do you use a fruitwash and/or wash your produce methodically?  I do, but didn’t get around to it for this batch of stuff, yet.  I’ll be standing in front of the sink for an hour or so tomorrow washing, rinsing, and spinning my produce to squeaky clean perfection.

And now for my predictable trusty content:

An early breakfast of vegan French toast with Garden Sausage, blueberries, and syrup at Bob’s Red Mill   And coffee, of course.  (Don’t hate me Andrea, I decided to do this late last night and used it as some alone time before the packing and sorting fun at my mom’s.)

I came home rather hangry and threw together a big salad with some fruit and veg on the side.  Salad had: romaine, grapes, apple, yellow bell pepp, carrot, avocado, Boca burger, chow mein noodles, sliced almonds, goat cheese, and balsamic.

I had to force in the last few bites of salad and saved the side fruit/veg for later, after my grocery shopping. 

Chris and I visited the gym for a few hours, where I busted out legs, triceps, 25 minutes of running & walking on the treadmill, and 28 minutes o’ sweaty fun on the stair mill.  I was getting hangry again at the end of this sesh, and was glad to quickly move on to….

Dinner was a repeat of a simple, voluminous veg fest:  steamed corn with Smart Balance Light, steamed broc, and oven roasted butternut squash chips.  Oh. So. Good.  I’d already had loads of protein early in the day, so I didn’t feel too bad about not having much with dinner.

I knew a fruity treat would be in order later on, and when the time rolled around I threw in a little crack as well.  Oh, bowl of fruity, granola-y goodness, how I have missed thee.

I’m ready for bed, but is it ready for me?  I’ll check it out and report back tomorrow   Enjoy your Sunday!

June 26, 2009

We interrupt this program for a brief reflection…

It’s really hard to believe Michael Jackson is dead…at 50 no less.  He had such an intense life and influenced so many.  I remember when Thriller came out and I watched the video on MTV.  It kinda scared me, but I liked it.  RIP Jacko. 

It’s also hard to believe Farrah Fawcett died yesterday, too, at 62.  I feel so bad for her because of the type of cancer she had and how strong it was.  I didn’t watch Charlie’s Angels, or other projects of hers, but she did have the hair that changed the world.  RIP Farrah. 

~~~~~~~~

Ah, Friday is over.  My day was rather quiet, successful, and seems short looking back.  It started with a massive headache from allergies and dehydration, but thankfully I kicked that around lunch time.

I started off with a bowl of traditional oats with a little Silk Vanilla Creamer on top.  My kitchen scale went bonkers last night, so the proportions were a bit off probably, resulting in a goo-ier consistency.  I use the scale b/c it’s easy, and I can’t quite eyeball some things like 10g of protein powder, apparently.

I’m diggin my lunch salads as of late since I’ve moved away from burrito gut salads.  Today it had romaine, yellow bell pepp, the last of my leftover corn salad, Fuji apple, avocado, chow mein noodles, goat cheese (had that yesterday, too, and forgot to mention it), Boca burger, balsamic, and sliced almonds.  Phew, everything but the kitchen sink!

I had part of the fruit and veg for a snack mid afternoon, and the rest as a snack before dinner. 

Once home and outside with Lily and caught a few good pics:

She loves catching the ball, so I figured an action shot was in order:

The great people over at Blue Diamond sent me a little gift in the mail today–coupons for Almond Breeze and their other products!! Yippee!!  I went online and told them that I love their products, especially the refrigerated almond milk, and they sent me these as a way to say thanks

Chris was hell bent on eating at Fajitas AGAIN tonight, whereas I wanted to stay home and BBQ or something.  I always give in to the man, cuz once he gets Mexican in mind nothing else is good enough basically.  I also didn’t have anything to cook for him, so this avoided a trip to the store just yet.

For dinner I had a vegetable quesadilla, light on the cheese, with a little bit of sour cream and guac.  Chips and salsa, a tiny bit of a Cazuela, and half of a La Casa were involved as well. 

This bitch is getting tired of quesadillas and burritos.  At Fajitas there aren’t many other veggie options, other than cheese enchiladas, chile relleno, and other super unhealthy options I won’t go for.  I had better figure out something quickly because I don’t know if I can stand it much longer!

This lady bug stopped by to say hi

Tonight I hit up the gym for full workout session:  upper body weights, abs, and 50 minutes on the mill.  This was my first full workout this week…oops.  An older man was watching me do my chest workout (not quite seedy/creepy, but nearly), and when I walked by him afterward he was like, “Ma’am, excuse me?”  He told me I’m doing well and to keep it up, and that I look good now but am on track to look even better if I keep at it.  He didn’t say it quite like it may sound; it came across very positively and I thanked him for the encouragement.  Alrighty then…

Post workout snack was a shake:  almond milk, Genisoy chocolate shake mix, flaxseed meal, cocoa powder, and ice.  Tasty dark chocolate goodness!

And so I leave you.  It is already 11:30!  Shit, wish I had a little more time to just chill.   My plans changed a little for tomorrow morning, and I think I’d like to treat myself to a special breakfast, solo.  I’m heading to my mom’s house to sort through crap and pack stuff she’s keeping, so I wouldn’t mind some peaceful time alone and a nice treat beforehand. 

Oyasuminasai